Many Beauty and the Many Beast

by Felicity Collins

  "Anna! Hold on a moment!" I said trying to stop her.

  "Come on, Elsa! Move it!"

  "To where?" Anna stopped dead in her tracks almost making me trip on her.

  "Oh, right… that slipped out of my mind" she said scratching her neck in embarrassment. I smiled.

  "Gerda" I called the head maid. She and Kai were like second parents to us, they've been serving our family for years now. The maid immediately came to us waiting for orders.

  "Yes, your Majesty?" she asked

  "Would you please go find Queen Skylynn and tell her the Princess and I are expecting her in my study?" I asked.

  "Of course, Queen Elsa" she said.

  "Thank you" She gave me a small bow and walked away.

  "Let's go! Let's go!" Anna said enthusiastically and dragging me to my study.

  "I'm coming! I'm coming!" I said laughing at her excitement. Queen Skylynn really is her heroine and to say the truth, I admired her too. I mean, she was a peasant and managed to enter an army, become Captain, then General, then Queen, in a perfectly legal way and not to mention all the heroic things she did during that Revolution. Her reputation surely did precede her. There were so many stories about her heroic acts that no one knew anymore which were true and which weren't. Anyway, Anna and I were waiting for her in my study, when there was a knock on the door.

  "Who is it?" I asked.

  "It's Skylynn, your Majesty"

  "Come in" I said. The door opened revealing the queen still in her uniform.

  "I'm glad you found some time for me" she said flashing us a smile as she closed the door behind her. That smile though… a perfect smile, but it had something familiar and it wasn't just her smile, her nose a bit too, but her smile and mouth in particular.

  "It's not like every day, we have the honor of receiving a guest such as yourself"

  "Please, you Majesty. I think I'm overrated. I'm not that much of a hero"

  "What?! Of course you are! After all you did during the Revolution! How could you say such a thing?" Anna said shocked to hear those words.

  "Everyone has their little secrets, don't they?" she said shrugging "And one of these little secrets of mine…" she said placing a hand on her hip and placing the other on a chair, leaning on it "…is the reason why I came here, alone, to Arendelle. Although this shouldn't really be a secret…" she paused "but that's another story" Anna and I exchanged looks.

  "So, why did you come here?" I asked.

  "I have…err… contacts, with the Southern Isles and… let's just say that I had a very reliable source that told me about Prince Hans' trial-"

  "-Just Hans. He's been stripped of his title" I interrupted. She looked surprised.

  "Oh… well, anyway" she continued shaking her head and looking back at us with her piercing grey eyes "I've been informed about Hans' trial and I also heard why he's been imprisoned" she paused for a moment "It's my fault if he did what he did"

  "WHAT?!" Anna and I exclaimed shocked.

  "It was my fault. I should have been there for him these past two years and I wasn't. Without noticing, I turned my back on him"

  "I can't believe you. I can't really" Anna said taken aback.

  "Would you mind explaining yourself better?" I said.

  "Hans is not evil, I know that. I know him" she said walking closer to us.

  "Uhm, excuse me, your Majesty, but he tried to kill us both and take over our kingdom" I said. Anna's jaw was basically on the floor.

  "There is a reason why he did what he did. I know it doesn't justify him and that he deserves a punishment. I'm not saying I want you to let him off the hook, but basically I'm here to defend him at the trial. Even though I'll be the only one"

  "And I wonder why that is?" I said sarcastically and slightly angry but she either ignored me or didn't hear me.

  "I know Hans better than anyone" she continued "and I know he would have never done such a thing if it wasn't for a reason… a strong reason. He made a huge mistake and I want to help him make amends"

  "I don't understand! Why would you want to help him?!" Anna exclaimed "You're the heroine of Drakora! You're the good guy! The one that protects the innocent, why would you help someone like him? He tried to kill us!"

  "And more importantly" I cut in "How do you know Hans so well?" she took a step closer to us, her grey eyes never leaving our gazes.

  "The same way you have known Princess Anna" she paused with a smirk "I'm his sister"

  CHAPTER THREE

  I'm his sister.

  Those were the words that came out of Queen Skylynn's smirking mouth... Silence... Have you ever had a 2000 lbs of pure iron hitting your head? No? Well, me either, but it certainly felt like it did.

  "No" I stated "You can't possibly be his sister"

  "Well- younger half-sister, actually… but details are details" she said, nonchalantly walking towards my bookshelf looking at the books. She looked, irritatingly calm if I have to say. But immediately it hit me. That explained why she seemed so familiar! How could I be so stupid?! Her nose was just like Hans's but smaller and a bit less pointy, her mouth was the same shape as his but slightly thicker and her smile… her smile was exactly the same as his! It was like someone had taken away Hans's smile and put it on her.

  "You can't be his sister!" Anna insisted "He is the youngest of thirteen sons and you two look nothing alike!"

  "Anna" I said calmly as I realized she wasn't lying.

  "What?" she said shocked.

  "Take a better look at her" I said. Queen Skylynn stood there and gave us a side smile.

  "Oh…" Anna said noticing "Oh! That explains why you looked so familiar! And also our meeting dynamics…" she muttered at the end.

  "Yeah, my mother used to tell me that I looked a lot like my father, King Albert VIII, and Hans" she said as she swept her bangs back in place.

  "What? But King Albert is known to have only 13 sons. No, wait- don't answer, it's too personal, I apolo-" she interrupted me though

  "Oh, right!" she said laughing humorlessly "I'm the 'incident', the daughter who should have never been born, the mistake, the shame of the royals of the Southern Isles. Because I was born, King Albert risked his crown badly, the only smart move he did was stepping down and leaving the throne to Theodore. How stupid of me, I keep forgetting that part!" she said bitterly, anger evident in her silver eyes "To be more explicit... What's the word you use for children who are born out of wed-lock? Oh, right! It's 'illegitimate child' or, and more commonly, 'bastard'… little detail known only to the Southern Isles, Drakora and now you two. News of this didn't go much further simply because, the Southern Isles immediately had a new king and Drakora... well, I said aristocrats had mixed feelings, so having a bastard as a ruler doesn't really bring them honor, plus, us Drakorians aren't much fans of gossiping. You know how society works, right?" I exchanged looks with Anna. She looked just as surprised as I was.

  "Why are you telling us this? Isn't it strictly confidential?"

  "No, not to me" she said seriously.

  "-How old does being Hans' younger sister make you, then?" Anna blurted out interrupting me. Queen Skylynn let out a small laugh.

  "That makes me 18 years-old" she said with a tiny side smile. Our eyes widen.

  "What?! You're my age?! You look like you're at least twenty-one like Elsa!" Anna exclaimed, voicing my thoughts and earning a stifled laugh from the grey eyed queen "And you've already been married for how long?" a flash of darkness passed through her eyes as her right hand held her left ring finger as if to play with the wed-ring, but that was when I noticed she wasn't wearing any wed-rings on her finger.

  "It would have been two years" she answered finding a certain interest in the books on my shelf again.

  "Wait… what do you mean 'it would have been'?" Anna said not noticing her mood change.

  "Anna" I called elbowing her slightly.

  "It means that Landon is dead" she snapped harshly looking back at us. Anna gasped covering he
r mouth with her hands.

  "I'm so sorry!" she apologized "I didn't mean to-"

  "No, it's fine. You didn't know. Sorry for the harshness" she said "Anyway, back to the topic" The way her mood changed was sincerely starting to freak me out "When is the trial?" she asked as if she hadn't told us any of the things she did.

  "On Tuesday at the Juridical Palace" I answered "But you can't participate in Hans' defense" I informed her, before she could ask me.

  "What?"

  "Hans has too much evidence against him. According to Arendelle's laws, the penalty for any crime is to be given by the monarch. My sister and I were personally involved in his crime, there would be no point in trying to prove his innocence. His trial is to help me judge him"

  "Are you going to exile him? Send him back to the Isles and let King Theodore hang him if not beheaded?" she challenged, her steel eyes boring into my blue ones.

  "You didn't name the 'execution', it seems like you've been informed of our law change"

  "We queens have to be informed of what happens outside our kingdom, as you well know"

  "I do know… anyway, as much as I resent him, I want to be objective and judge him like a stranger"

  "Easier said than done" my gaze hardened as she challenged.

  "We're not going to let our negative feelings towards him to get in the way" I said including Anna as well.

  "Oh, really? You wanna bet?" she said surprising me by using a very informal language, but that was the least of my problems.

  "Okay, hold it you two! I can feel the nasty tension in the air and it's not nice" Anna said interrupting and stepping between us, lightly pushing us apart with her hands. Queen Skylynn didn't break the challenging eye-contact and neither did I, she did though, step back.

  "Am I at least allowed to participate to the trial?" she asked.

  "That you are" I said.

  "Very well then" she said straightening up, relaxing her shoulders. Maybe she was just trying to look more intimidating "I have just one last request"

  "Which is?"

  "May I see him?" she said. I was fearing that question.

  "No" I said.

  "With all due respect, your Majesty, I ask you to reconsider. I need to see him"

  "With all due respect, Queen Skylynn, you asked for my permission, but my answer is 'No'. Now you can exit where you entered"

  "Actually, I'm not quiet done, yet"

  "But I am" I said sharply.

  "Elsa, please" Anna said snapping my attention towards her "Let her speak, you said yourself that we don't usually have guests such as herself, and I'd like to hear what else Queen Skylynn has to say" I glared at her, but she answered me with an innocent smile.

  "Fine" I said and turned back towards the other queen, not before seeing Anna winking friendly at her "What else do you need to say?"

  "I'd like to propose an alliance between our people" she said confidently. Now that got my attention, but also made me want to slap myself for being so snappy at her.

  "Oh… what kind?" I asked carefully.

  "I wanted to leave that up to you" she said. Dang it! She may be a heroine but she sure as heck enjoys to make things difficult for me! "We've been doing pretty well since the Revolution, we're economically more than stable and militarily well-equipped and prepared, but we're alone. The kingdoms closest to us are the Southern Isles, who have made it pretty clear they don't want to have anything to do with us Drakonians, Weselton, whom I've just cut off-"

  "Let me guess why, the Duke?" Anna said with a small smile

  "Exactly" I couldn't help but stifle a laugh. He was still at it. "Anyway, our other neighboring kingdom is Meintank and their king is well known for his expansion desire. Weselton is small and not a problem for us, who worries me are the Southern Isles and Meintank, here is where Arendelle comes in" I listened intently "Arendelle is big and it seems to me that even after the Thaw it's doing pretty well and most importantly, it's at the North of Meintank, while Drakora is at the South. My point is that if we unite our countries…"

  "…then Meintank would be surrounded and wouldn't dare to attack either of our kingdoms" I finished.

  "Exactly" she said with a smirk

  "And the Southern Isles wouldn't do anything because of what happened in July. King Theodore wouldn't dare to start a war between us. He knows that being allies, if he attacks Drakora, Arendelle is going to give its support, therefore, Arendelle and the Isles would be at war" Anna said. Queen Skylynn looked at her impressed and I looked at her with eyes wide in disbelief.

  "Yes, I do know something about strategy" Anna said proud of herself. I shook my head.

  "So your proposal is more like a military alliance" I said turning back to her.

  "My idea was that it could either be commercial or military, or it could be both"

  "We help each other's kingdom by trading and sending soldiers in case of war"

  "Yes"

  "Deal!" Anna exclaimed.

  "Hold it!" I said and turned back to Queen Skylynn "This proposal sounds far too fair to me, where's the catch?"

  "No, catch. If there's one thing I've been taught is that deals need to be equal and that once you've given your word, you stick to it. You've been taught the same, I can see it in your eyes" she said "That's why I chose you as an ally and to be completely honest, I really couldn't care less about your powers, I would have made you this proposal even if you didn't have them, I didn't ask you because of that. Believe me, I've experience betrayal and treason too, and it cost so many lives…" a veil of sadness went through her eyes "I don't want my people to experience something like that again, at least while I'm alive" Her bright grey eyes stared into mine, like if they were trying to communicate something, and they did. She was telling the truth. I looked at Anna and I had to admit, that even if she rushed into things, she was right on this.

  "Alright" I said. Queen Skylynn smiled and took out a paper from her jacket pocket. "You never really wanted to leave it up to me. You planned for this trading/military alliance" I said, slightly amused as I instantly knew that was the alliance paper she prepared.

  "Oh, I was certainly hoping for it" she replied with a small confident side smile, as she handed me the folded paper. I opened it and read it. Anna stepped closer to me hooking her chin on my shoulder while reading. The paper said exactly what Queen Skylynn had said, not a word more, not one less. It was a perfectly fair deal "We need a witness" I said.

  "Well, technically, an alliance like this one is a deal between two rulers" Anna said "I'm the Princess, I can be the wit- Oh, wait, you meant for Queen Skylynn!- Uhm…" she thought for a moment "I'll go get Princess Rapunzel. She's an honest person and a reliable ally, you can count on her. She can be your witness… now that I think of it, Corona, Arendelle and Drakora could be good allies" she said. That got me to think for a moment. Anna was right. Corona and Arendelle have been allies for years, why not adding Drakora? "Queen Skylynn, Queen Elsa, we could include Corona in the deal, it could be very productive for the three of us" Anna said taking the words right out my mouth, but she wasn't done yet "Corona's main trade is pottery, they produce steel of the best quality, therefore, the good quality pottery, especially frying pans. If I'm not wrong, your kingdom is also well known for its blacksmiths, it could be a very productive trade for you. You can supply them with your armor trading, since well… Corona's soldiers are efficient, but their armors… not really. As for trading with Arendelle…" To say Anna had taken me off guard was an understatement. I didn't think she would know so many things about our countries. I was impressed and glad she was so well informed. She was being pretty clear as she talked to Queen Skylynn and convincing, like a real business woman. I knew that Anna had this talking thing in her, but was not expecting this kind of eloquence.

  "So… what do you think?" Anna asked the other queen when she was done talking.

  "I think that for being such a clumsy, hyper, chatty girl, you sure have an interesting diplomatic potential,
don't you?" she said with a side smile.

  "Oh… thank you… I guess" Anna said blushing and stepping closer to me, I sent her a smile.

  "Anyway, the idea is perfect, but it's not possible right now"

  "Why not?" I asked

  "During the Revolution, King Landon's uncle's privateers assaulted some of Corona's ships - big ships- to get supplies. Too bad that they had used the rebels' flag, the official crest of Drakora" said Queen Skylynn "First I need to set things right with the monarchs, then I can start thinking about an alliance with Corona, but I appreciate the idea" I nodded.

  "Alright, Anna go get Princess Rapunzel for the deal" I said

  "No need, Princess Anna will be witness enough" Queen Skylynn said. Anna's blue eyes shone bright and I kind of appreciated what the other queen was doing, Anna needed to start to take care of princess duties, and this was a good start. I was surprised myself with the amount of trust she was giving Anna even if she barely knew her. We walked towards my desk, I took the quilt and signed the alliance, then I passed it to Queen Skylynn, who took the quilt in her left hand and signed, then she passed it to Anna who signed as well. Queen Skylynn took out of her pocket another paper and passed it to me. It was the copy, we signed that too and I gave it back to her while I kept the other paper.

  "Tomorrow I'll make sure the existence of these papers is made public" I said.

  "Very well, I'll send this to my regent to make them public in my country. I hope this alliance between our peoples endures" she said offering me her hand.

  "So do I" I said and shook it "I'll see you at court" She gave me a nod of the head and did the same to Anna. Then she walked back towards the door but I couldn't help but ask.

  "Queen Skylynn" I called. She had just opened the door, and turned around "I couldn't help but notice that you refer to your subjects as 'my people' or 'we'… but you're not Drakorian. How come?" She looked impassively at me in the eyes.

  "One of the same reasons as Hans" she answered and walked out of the door. Anna and I remained silent for a moment taking in what just happened. Then Anna looked at me with an innocent smile and a look that clearly stated the question she was eager to ask. Then she took my arm and leaning her head on my shoulder as her smile got wider. I rolled my eyes playfully.